CE-317 GIS/RS AppIication to CiviI Engineering

Spring 2011

Engr. Faisal ur Rehman

Lecture 04b: Latitude, Longitude and Projections

Authalic Latitude

It is based on a spherical earth.

It measures the position of a point on the earths

surface in terms of the angular distance between
the equator and the poles.

It indicates how far north or south of the equator a

particular point is situated.

It is known as an arc of the meridian.

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North Latitude

all points north of the equator in the northern

hemisphere.

Geodetic Latitude

Geodetic Latitude is based on an ellipsoidal earth.

The ellipsoid is a more accurate representation of

the earth than a sphere since it accounts for polar
flattening.

Modern large-scale mapping, GIS, and GPS

technology all require the higher accuracy of an
ellipsoidal reference surface.
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Geodetic Latitude

When the earths shape is based on the WGS 84

Ellipsoid, the length of 1 of latitude is not the
same everywhere as it is on the sphere.

At the equator, 1 of latitude is 110.57 kilometers

(68.7 miles).

At the poles, 1 of latitude is 111.69 kilometers (69.4

miles).

Parallels of latitude decrease in length with

increasing latitude.

Length of parallel at latitude x = (cosine of x) *

(length of equator).

The length of each GIS Basics 64 degree is

obtained by dividing the length of that parallel by
360.
Latitude and Distance
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Latitude and Distance

For example, the cosine of 60 is 0.5, so the length

of the parallel at that latitude is one half the
length of the equator.

Since the variation in lengths of degrees of latitude

varies by only 1.13 kilometers (0.7 mile)

the standard figure of 111.325 kilometers (69.172

miles) can be used.

Latitude and Distance

For example, anywhere on the earth, the length

represented by 3 of latitude is
(3111.325) = 333.975 kilometers.
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Longitude

Longitude measures the position of a point on the

earths surface east or west from a specific
meridian, the prime meridian.

The longitude of a place is the arc, measured in

degrees along a parallel of latitude from the prime
meridian.

Longitude

The most widely accepted prime meridian is based

on the Bureau International de lHeure (BIH)
Zero Meridian.

It passes through the old Royal Observatory in

Greenwich, England.
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Map Projection

A map projection is a system in which locations on

the curved surface of the earth are displayed on a
flat sheet or surface according to some set of
rules.

Mathematically, projection is a process of

transforming global location to a planar position.

Tissot's lndicatrix

This is a convenient way of showing distortion.

If a tiny circle drawn on the surface of the globe, on

the distorted map the circle will become an
ellipse, squashed or stretched by the projection.
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Figure of the Earth

The figure of the earth is a geometrical model used

to generate projections

A compromise between the desire for mathematical

simplicity and the need for accurate
approximation of the earths shape.

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Figure of the Earth

The common types are:

Plane: It assume the earth is flat (use no projection)

used for maps only intended to depict general

relationships or for maps of small areas.

At scales larger than 1:10,000 planar representations

has little effect on accuracy.

Planar projections are usually assumed when working

with air photos.

Sphere: It assumes the earth is perfectly spherical

thus does not truly represent the earths shape.

Figure of the Earth

Ellipsoid: This is the figure created by rotating an

ellipse about its minor axis.

The ellipsoid models the fact that the earths diameter

at the equator is greater than the distance between
poles, by about 0.3%.
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Planar or Azimuthal Projections

A flat sheet is placed in contact with a globe, and

points are projected from the globe to the sheet.

Mathematically, the projection is easily expressed

as mappings from latitude and longitude to polar
coordinates with the origin located at the point of
contact with the paper.
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Planar or Azimuthal Projections

The examples are:

Stereographic projection

Gnomic projection

Lamberts azimuthal equal-area projection

Orthographic projection

Conic Projections

The transformation is made to the surface of a cone

tangent at a small circle (tangent case) or
intersecting at two small circles (secant case) on a
globe.

Mathematically, this projection is also expressed as

mappings from latitude and longitude to polar
coordinates, but with the origin located at the
apex of the cone.
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Conic Projections

The examples are:

Albers conical equal area projection with two

standard parallels

Lambert conformal conic projection with two

standard parallels

Equidistant conic projection with one standard

parallel

Cylindrical Projections

These projections are developed by transforming

the spherical surface to a tangent or secant
cylinder.

Mathematically, a cylinder wrapped around the

equator is expressed with x equal to longitude,
and the y coordinates some function of latitude.

The Example is Mercator projection.

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Non-Geometric Projections

Some projections cannot be expressed

geometrically, they have only mathematical
descriptions.

The examples are Molleweide and Eckert etc.

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Geometric Analogy

The most common methods of projection can be

conceptually described by imagining the
developable surface

Which is a surface that can be made flat by cutting

it along certain lines and unfolding or unrolling it.
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Geometric Analogy

If the developable surface touches the globe, the

projection is called tangent

and if the surface cuts into the globe, it is called

secant.

Geometric Analogy

Conformal (Orthomorphic) Projections: A

projection is conformal if the angles in the
original features are preserved

over small areas the shapes of objects will be

preserved.

Preservation of shape does not hold with large

regions (i.e., Greenland in Mercator projection).
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Geometric Analogy

Equal Area (Equivalent) Projections: The

representation of areas is preserved so that all
regions on the projection will be represented in
correct relative size.

Equal area maps cannot be conformal, so most earth

angles are deformed and shapes are strongly
distorted.

Geometric Analogy

Equidistant Projections: We cannot make a single

projection over which all distances are
maintained.

Thus, equidistant projections maintain relative

distances from one or two points only

i.e., in a conic projection all distances from the

center are represented at the same scale.
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Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)

UTM provides georeferencing at high levels of

precision for the entire globe.

Established in 1936 by the International Union of

Geodesy and Geophysics

It is adopted by many national and international

mapping agencies.

It is commonly used in topographic and thematic

mapping, for referencing satellite imagery and as
a basis for widely distributed spatial databases.

Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS)

The Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS)

coordinate system is used in conjunction with the
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate
system to locate positions on the surface of the
earth.

Like the UTM coordinate system, the UPS

coordinate system uses a metric-based cartesian
grid laid out on a conformally projected surface.
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Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS)

UPS covers the Earth's polar regions, specifically

the areas north of 84 N and south of 80 South,
which are not covered by the UTM grids

plus an additional 30 minutes of latitude extending

into UTM grid to provide an amount of overlap
between the two systems.

Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS)

The UPS system uses a stereographic projection.

It is conformal, meaning that it preserves angles.

Specifically, the projection used in the system is a

secant version based on an elliptical model of the
Earth
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& A

Thanks
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